Covid Report for Family

Background

Notes and format last updated May 7, 2020

Starting on the May 7th update, the NY Times began including probable covid cases/deaths along with confirmed. This mostly affects death counts – for certain geographies that include probable COVID deaths in addition to confirmed, these are now added to the totals. For the time being, they were all added to the May 6th totals, causing a big spike at the U.S. level. Over time, NY Times will revise their historical counts and distribute these added deaths when they actually occurred, so the spike should fade.

• This page shows COVID data broken down into regions that affect our family. It pulls from publicly available raw data from the NY Times, which is reported daily. It’s on a one-day lag, so when you see this report, the most recent day included will be that reported the day prior.
• The table of contents above summarizes the major sections and can be used to jump to those sections.
• Each major section is then divided into tabs to allow you to more easily shuffle between geographies and metrics.
  • If you open on your phone, I don’t believe the tabs will work, so you’ll just see the page as one long, continuous document.
• More detailed descriptions and context can be found in each section.

Growth rates

Heat maps

• The two heat maps below compare how quickly total cases or deaths have grown at various times in our respective geopgraphies.
• The first plot compares growth rate for total cases; the second, growth rate for total deaths.
• The metric used is doubling time, by which I mean how quickly total cases or deaths are doubling.
• The plots track that doubling time at each date for our geographies. Darker colors reflect shorter doubling times, and thus periods of faster growth.
  • You can use the plots to track each geography over time and to compare the geographies to one another.
  • You can also compare the cases and death charts, to see how faster periods of death growth follow faster periods of case growth.

Case growth rates

• This section charts the growth rate of both total and new cases for each of our respective geographies. Each geography has its own chart, and then that chart will have a trendline for total cases and new cases.
  • There are only plots for the U.S. and states because the numbers for the counties are too small to generate worthwhile trendlines in this section.
• Note that we’re charting growth rate and not a count of cases, so don’t think of these as the standard “curve” that we hear about in the news and that we want to flatten. Instead, these growth rate charts help track more precisely what we can only estimate when we see those other curves. For these growth rate charts, if the line is above zero, the metric we are tracking (total or new cases) is continuing to grow. If the growth rate line is going up, it’s growing more quickly each day; if it’s going down but still above zero, it’s growing less quickly (but still growing). Only when the growth rate lines go below zero has the metric stopped growing.
• Each of these two lines uses rolling windows to calculate a growth rate for that particular metric. I do the calculation differently for each to smooth out some of the large day-to-day discrepancies in new case reporting at the state level.
  • For total cases, the trendlines are a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates in total cases. We want to see these decline (and almost all are), but they can’t go below zero. This is because we’re tracking growth rate and a growth rate line below zero would mean total cases have gone down, which can’t happen. They can only grow less quickly, which means we want to see the total case line get as close to zero as possible.
  • For new cases, the trendlines show a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rate in the rolling 7-day average of new cases. Including two rolling periods in this average helps smooth out crazy spikes at the state level that result from large day-to-day changes. Unlike the lines for total cases, we want to watch for the lines for new cases to get consistently below zero and stay there. That means that we are consistently seeing fewer new cases on a daily basis.

U.S.

Our states

Death growth rates

• This section charts the growth rate of both total and new deaths for each of our respective geographies. Each geography has its own chart, and then that chart will have a trendline for total deaths and new deaths.
  • There are only plots for the U.S. and states because the numbers for the counties are too small to generate worthwhile trendlines in this section.
• Note that we’re charting growth rate and not a count of deaths, so don’t think of these as the standard “curve” that we hear about in the news and that we want to flatten. Instead, these growth rate charts help track more precisely what we can only estimate when we see those other curves. For these growth rate charts, if the line is above zero, the metric we are tracking (total or new deaths) is continuing to grow. If the growth rate line is going up, it’s growing more quickly each day; if it’s going down but still above zero, it’s growing less quickly (but still growing). Only when the growth rate lines go below zero has the metric stopped growing.
• Each of these two lines uses rolling windows to calculate a growth rate for that particular metric. I do the calculation differently for each to smooth out some of the large day-to-day discrepancies in new death reporting at the state level.
  • For total deaths, the trendlines are a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates in total deaths. We want to see these decline (and almost all are), but they can’t go below zero. This is because we’re tracking growth rate and a growth rate line below zero would mean total deaths have gone down, which can’t happen. They can only grow less quickly, which means we want to see the total death line get as close to zero as possible.
  • For new deaths, the trendlines show a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rate in the rolling 7-day average of new deaths. Including two rolling periods in this average helps smooth out crazy spikes at the state level that result from large day-to-day changes. Unlike the lines for total deaths, we want to watch for the lines for new deaths to get consistently below zero and stay there. That means that we are consistently seeing fewer new deaths on a daily basis.

U.S.

Our states

By population rankings

This section tracks metrics for states and counties normalized for population (number of cases or deaths per million residents), and then compares these figures both for our geographies and the country overall.

States

• This section shows tables ranking all 50 states for per populations rates of total cases, new cases, total deaths, and new deaths.
• For each metric, in addition to the tables, the trends for the top states are plotted over time.
  • We only plot the top ten states for each metric so that the plots aren’t too crowded. But you can view the full 50-state rankings in the tables.

Total confirmed cases

Table of total confirmed cases per million residents (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	Cases Per Million
1	Louisiana	34,177
2	Florida	30,995
3	Mississippi	30,246
4	Arizona	28,676
5	Alabama	28,442
6	Georgia	26,249
7	South Carolina	25,769
8	Tennessee	25,112
9	Nevada	23,988
10	Texas	23,953
11	Iowa	23,793
12	Arkansas	23,403
13	New York	23,114
14	New Jersey	22,377
15	Rhode Island	21,833
16	Illinois	20,981
17	North Dakota	20,777
18	District of Columbia	20,718
19	Idaho	20,135
20	Nebraska	19,976
21	Delaware	19,447
22	California	19,413
23	Maryland	19,376
24	South Dakota	18,991
25	Utah	18,231
26	Massachusetts	18,147
27	North Carolina	17,777
28	Oklahoma	17,746
29	Kansas	17,460
30	Missouri	17,246
31	Wisconsin	16,413
32	Indiana	16,154
33	Virginia	15,766
34	Connecticut	15,397
35	Minnesota	15,072
36	Kentucky	13,694
37	New Mexico	12,801
38	Michigan	12,443
39	Ohio	11,847
40	Puerto Rico	11,820
41	Pennsylvania	11,720
42	Washington	11,012
43	Colorado	10,771
44	Alaska	9,859
45	Montana	8,574
46	Hawaii	7,689
47	Wyoming	7,588
48	West Virginia	7,153
49	Oregon	6,991
50	New Hampshire	5,673
51	Maine	3,647
52	Vermont	2,717

New confirmed cases

Table of new cases per million residents: rolling 3-day average (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	New Cases Per Million
1	North Dakota	501
2	Missouri	260
3	South Dakota	257
4	South Carolina	235
5	Wisconsin	222
6	Oklahoma	217
7	Tennessee	206
8	Alabama	187
9	Arkansas	181
10	Iowa	176
11	Utah	172
12	Kansas	168
13	Indiana	151
14	Georgia	139
15	Nebraska	138
16	Kentucky	136
17	Minnesota	131
18	Delaware	129
19	Illinois	129
20	Texas	128
21	Louisiana	127
22	Puerto Rico	122
23	West Virginia	120
24	Idaho	117
25	Florida	114
26	Virginia	114
27	Alaska	111
28	North Carolina	111
29	Montana	108
30	Nevada	108
31	Maryland	106
32	Mississippi	94
33	Ohio	90
34	California	83
35	Hawaii	75
36	Wyoming	73
37	Rhode Island	70
38	Colorado	66
39	Michigan	65
40	District of Columbia	60
41	Pennsylvania	59
42	Arizona	55
43	Washington	55
44	Connecticut	53
45	Massachusetts	52
46	Oregon	47
47	New Mexico	44
48	New Jersey	40
49	New York	37
50	Maine	27
51	New Hampshire	23
52	Vermont	14

Total deaths

Table of total deaths per million residents (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	Deaths Per Million
1	New Jersey	1,805
2	New York	1,677
3	Massachusetts	1,337
4	Connecticut	1,257
5	Louisiana	1,129
6	Rhode Island	1,014
7	Mississippi	909
8	District of Columbia	872
9	Arizona	731
10	Michigan	693
11	Illinois	676
12	Maryland	634
13	Delaware	633
14	Pennsylvania	620
15	South Carolina	597
16	Florida	588
17	Georgia	584
18	Indiana	510
19	Texas	500
20	Alabama	480
21	Nevada	472
22	New Mexico	392
23	Iowa	390
24	Ohio	378
25	California	365
26	Minnesota	350
27	Colorado	347
28	Arkansas	328
29	Virginia	321
30	New Hampshire	320
31	Tennessee	303
32	North Carolina	295
33	Missouri	293
34	Washington	275
35	Kentucky	247
36	Idaho	235
37	Nebraska	232
38	Oklahoma	228
39	North Dakota	227
40	Wisconsin	209
41	South Dakota	207
42	Kansas	186
43	Puerto Rico	169
44	West Virginia	153
45	Utah	135
46	Montana	130
47	Oregon	121
48	Maine	101
49	Vermont	92
50	Wyoming	79
51	Hawaii	69
52	Alaska	56

New deaths

Table of new deaths per million residents: rolling 3-day average (all 50 states)

Ranking	State	New Deaths Per Million
1	Arkansas	4
2	Mississippi	4
3	Georgia	3
4	Louisiana	3
5	South Carolina	3
6	Tennessee	3
7	Florida	2
8	Kansas	2
9	Montana	2
10	North Dakota	2
11	South Dakota	2
12	Texas	2
13	West Virginia	2
14	Wyoming	2
15	Alabama	1
16	Arizona	1
17	California	1
18	Delaware	1
19	Illinois	1
20	Iowa	1
21	Kentucky	1
22	Massachusetts	1
23	Minnesota	1
24	Missouri	1
25	Nevada	1
26	North Carolina	1
27	Oklahoma	1
28	Puerto Rico	1
29	Rhode Island	1
30	Virginia	1
31	Alaska	0
32	Colorado	0
33	Connecticut	0
34	District of Columbia	0
35	Hawaii	0
36	Idaho	0
37	Indiana	0
38	Maine	0
39	Maryland	0
40	Michigan	0
41	Nebraska	0
42	New Hampshire	0
43	New Jersey	0
44	New Mexico	0
45	New York	0
46	Ohio	0
47	Oregon	0
48	Pennsylvania	0
49	Utah	0
50	Vermont	0
51	Washington	0
52	Wisconsin	0

Counties

• This section focuses on the county level. It shows tables with our counties ranked by percentile of U.S. counties for per population rates of total cases and total deaths.
  • Each table also shows the top five counties in the country in addition to our counties, for added perspecive.
• In addition to the tables, our counties’ percentile for both total cases and total deaths are plotted over time.

Confirmed cases

Table showing total cases per million and percentile for all US counties. Includes our counties and the top 5 in the US for perspective.

County	State	Cases Per Million	Raw Ranking	Percentile
Trousdale	Tennessee	145,427	1	99
Chattahoochee	Georgia	145,228	2	99
Lafayette	Florida	144,859	3	99
Lincoln	Arkansas	137,055	4	99
Lake	Tennessee	123,005	5	99
Davidson	Tennessee	39,329	173	94
Richland	South Carolina	33,123	272	91
York	South Carolina	17,346	1047	66
Orange	California	16,427	1134	63
Pierce	Washington	9,008	2017	35

Our county percentiles over time

Deaths

Table showing total deaths per million and percentile for all US counties. Includes our counties and the top 5 in the US for perspective.

County	State	Deaths Per Million	Raw Ranking	Percentile
Hancock	Georgia	4,848	1	99
Galax city	Virginia	4,412	2	99
Randolph	Georgia	3,983	3	99
Terrell	Georgia	3,634	4	99
Emporia city	Virginia	3,554	5	99
Richland	South Carolina	524	687	78
Davidson	Tennessee	405	933	70
Orange	California	344	1073	65
Pierce	Washington	228	1445	54
York	South Carolina	214	1500	52

Our county percentiles over time

Raw counts

• This section shows the raw counts over time for the U.S., our states, and our counties for four categories:
  • Total confirmed cases: This is the cumulative total of cases reported.
  • New confirmed cases: This is the number of new cases reported on each respective date.
    • For the U.S. and states, a trendline shows the rolling 7-day average of new cases, to help better visualize the peak.
  • Total deaths: This is the cumulative total of deaths reported.
  • New deaths: This is the number of new deaths reported on each respective date.
    • For the U.S. and states, a trendline shows the rolling 7-day average of new deaths, to help better visualize the peak.

Total confirmed cases

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

New confirmed cases

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

Total deaths

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

New deaths

U.S.

Our states

Our counties

Stay-at-home comparisons

• This section is a work in progress. It’s exploring what effect stay-at-home orders have on spread. It’s inherentely messy because some states have localized orders but not orders for their full state and because states implemented the orders at different times.
  • The first plot shows a rolling 3-day average of new cases per million residents, averaged across 2 groups of states – those with a state-wide stay-at-home order in effect and those without. The size of the dots reflect the number of states in each group for each given day (so the dots are getting bigger over time for the group with orders, as more states implement those orders).
    • So far, this view doesn’t show if these orders are “working” or not. Instead, the biggest takeaway from the current plot is that the states that implemented orders are reacting to having worse spread, which is why the case rate is so much higher at the start for them. As a state decides it has a problem and implements an order, it joins the grouping of states with orders and drives the rate up for that group.
    • Over time (if the policies work), what we’d expect is that the line for the group with orders flattens or declines in relation to the no-order group. It also may become moot if all states issue orders.
    • As states start rescending their orders, I’ll put them back into the no-order group, so the no-order group should beging to expand again.
  • The second plot tracks progress of states by the number of days since orders have been in effect. It includes only those states with orders and shows their average new case growth rate (a rolling 3-day average of daily growth rates) based on how long it’s been since the order went into effect. Again, the size of the dots show how many states are included in each point – i.e., as you go further right, the dots are smaller because less states are that far past their order.
    • I’m working on how to add a baseline to this chart to compare to states without orders, but that’s challenging because there’s no way to fully align timing.